Friday, July 16, 2010

Wii Worship

Last night Karen, Joshua, and I went to my parent's house for a visit. You know... the visit to catch up on things that have been going on in each other's life; watch a little Jeopardy; a little Wheel of Fortune; some Braves baseball; and, of course, Wii. Yes, my parent's have a Wii system. It's a lot of fun and it can wear you out if you aren't careful.

I watched from the dining room table as Karen and Joshua played golf, and then they shot some 3-point basketball contest. They were having a good time. It's actually more fun to watch the participants than the TV screen. Anyway, it wasn't too long until I was playing golf and shooting hoops. The amazing thing about the Wii system is, you quickly get to the point where you feel as though you are totally in the game....playing; not just pressing buttons to produce a result, but moving physically to produce a result. You start to focus more on how you hold the controller so your swing doesn't hook, or slice when you hit the ball. You look at the layout of the fairway, the direction of the wind, the sand traps, and the angle of the break on the green as you putt. You forget you are standing in the middle of a living room.

The same goes for the 3-point shoot out in basketball. You sense yourself reaching for the ball in the rack, jumping to shoot, and concentrating on your follow through to make sure the ball swishes the net. The rest of the games are the same way. They make you forget where you are and move you to another place.... a place of just you and the game....everything else is placed aside for this time. At the end of the game though, you are back in reality with all it's distractions, pressures, and struggles....life....real life.

Is it posible for our worship to be like a Wii system? It can be if we only feel like we are worshipping when we are at church on the weekend. We turn our worship on the moment we arrive and the music starts and we begin singing; the moment we leave everything that has made our week a mess behind, and sing praises to our God and listen to His voice in the message speaking directly to us; the moment we feel as though it is just us and God with no distractions, pressures, or struggles....worship. Then, when we walk out the door, we hit the "Off" button and return to where we were before we arrived at church...distacted, pressured, and struggling.

No....worship is not a Wii system, because true worship has no "Off" button. Worship is a life-style; a result of our life in Christ....everlasting....never ending.

1 comment:

MelD said...

Ronnie,

Thank you for posting this message. I heard Joyce Meyer speak the other day about how, in the past, she and her husband would argue all the way to church and all the way back. It was a wake up call for me. Although knowing the Bible isn't new to me, worshiping and praising God at all times is. We're getting there and am grateful that HRCC and it's wonderful leaders are supporting us as we do.